This Mortal Coil
by Simply Ginger
Summary: Story has been abandoned as of 10/8/13. No further updates to this or any of my other stories will be available on FFN after almost all of my stories were unnecessarily deleted. I will port all of my stories to Archive of Our Own (AO3) and any and all future updates and new stories will be there. PM with any questions. See my profile for more information.


**A/N: This is my version of how the ending should have been.**

**This Mortal Coil – A Shield FanFic.**

It was late afternoon and I was waiting. I was waiting on payback.

I stayed hidden behind some trees just across the street outside the ICE office where Vic Mackey worked. I knew from watching that he would be coming out any minute now and I had to see him. I had a mission to accomplish.

I stayed where I was and waited. One by one, the ICE employees came out and headed towards the employee lot just to the south of the building. I had paid someone to go inside for me and had her ask the receptionist at the front of the building earlier if Vic Mackey was here. My informant came back out and told me that the receptionist said he was and that his office was on the fourth floor. I declined my informant's invitation to come up to see him with her as my cover. I was arrested earlier for the crimes Vic and I had committed with Shane and Curtis Lemansky over the past three years when we were together on the Strike Team. Shane had killed himself and his pregnant wife and son. Curtis Lemansky was killed by Shane who threw a grenade in Lem's car. The only two people left of the Strike Team were Vic and me. I pulled the gun out from the waist of my jeans to check the magazine. I slid it out quietly and saw that I had eight bullets in it. That'd be enough for what I had to do.

Another half an hour went by. The longer I was outside waiting, the angrier I got. With each passing tick of the second hand, I was reminded of the shit Vic had gotten us into. The Money Train. Antwon Mitchell. Helping Shane cover up Angie's murder. Lemansky's murder. Skimming money from drug dealers. Armadillo. At the thought of Armadillo, my hand went up to touch the burn scars on my cheek. Armadillo had ambushed me at Vic's apartment, knocked me unconscious and when I woke up, the side of my face was burning. The scars on my cheek had faded after having two surgeries on it for skin grafting. The third surgery would never take place after what I had planned for Vic.

Vic finally came out. I waited until he was away from the building. After casing the office, I knew that an ICE agent was at the receptionist's desk in the lobby. I was a wanted felon. I had escaped police custody after being arrested. I shot one of the officers who was transferring me from the courthouse. The other officer I managed to knock out with one swift blow to the temple. I got the keys off that officer's belt and undid my handcuffs and ran as fast as I could to get away. I knew every law enforcement agency in Los Angeles was looking for me and I didn't have that much time left before someone saw me and I'd most likely be shot and killed on the spot after what I did to escape.

Vic was walking towards his ICE car when I started to approach the fencing around the lot. Vic heard me approaching and turned around, "Ronnie?" Vic looked at me as I slowly approached. "Ronnie?"

"Yeah. Who'd you expect?"

Vic shoved me behind one of the brick columns that were at the edge of the ICE lot. "You've got every cop in a two hundred mile radius looking for you. What the hell are you thinking?"

"I needed to talk to you."

"Not here. Get in." He shoved me towards the car. "Get in the back seat and lie down in the floorboards. There are cameras all over this lot. I can't be seen with you."

Vic hit the button on the remote entry key fob on his key ring. The lights flashed and the car unlocked. I got in the back seat and got in the floorboards like he asked. I heard him start the car and waited as he pulled out of the parking lot and away from the cameras. "You can get up now." I pushed myself off of the floorboards of the car and climbed over into the front seat next to Vic. "Now talk. What do you want?"

"Not here. Go somewhere private. There's a scrap yard at the end of this area off Los Gatos Avenue. Pull in there."

We rode in silence on the way to the lot. Vic had his ICE radio turned on in the car, listening for anyone who might be calling in to say that they had seen me out in the area. Other than a few traffic stops and some radio traffic about an armed robbery and a drug deal gone sour, nothing was said about me. I listened to the traffic and felt the anger boil up inside of me when I heard Dutch's voice on the radio calling in to dispatch that he was en route to the drug deal scene. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath and tried to settle the vitriol in the back of my throat that was just dying to come out.

Vic pulled into the salvage yard. It was past seven o'clock at night and no one was around. He kept going until we were in the back part of the yard. To my left were stacks of crushed cars and to my right were three large piles of scrap metal. We were in the back and out of the way. We wouldn't be seen. "Get out."

I got out and waited on Vic to join me. "Ronnie, you can't be seen with me. If anyone sees me talking to you, I'll be…"

"What? Arrested? Too late, Vic." I pulled the gun out of the waist of my jeans and pointed it at Vic. "Arrested like me? Oh, no. Wait. That won't happen, remember? You served my ass up to the D.A. and to your new ICE girlfriend. Damn it, we've been through so much and in less than thirty seconds, you forgot everything and turned on me. You tell me why I shouldn't put a bullet in your head right now, just like you and Shane did with Terry. Remember him? The guy you and Shane shot and killed and tried to blame Lem and me? You told IA that Lem and I forgot to clear a room and Two Time shot Terry when all along it was you and Shane."

"Ronnie, calm down." Vic took a step back, but I matched it with one of my own. I wasn't going to give him the opportunity to bolt and reach the radio in the squad car. I came here with a purpose and I was going to see it through, no matter what. "You don't understand. I had to."

"You had to? You had to? No, you didn't have to. You betrayed me. You turned on me. Me! I've stuck with you through thick and thin. I thought we were friends." I brought my hand to my face, trying to choke off the migraine that I could feel coming on. "How much shit have we done with you and I have never once questioned you? Lem had to die, also? He was ready to go to prison. He was willing to go to prison for OUR crimes and instead, you decided he had to die."

"I had nothing to do with Lem's death. That was all Shane."

"Whatever, Vic."

Vic didn't answer right away. "It's Corrine. I had to do what I had to do to protect Corrine and my kids. I had to. I know you don't undertand and you're pissed, but what am I supposed to do? Let her go to prison? What about my kids? Huh? Matt and Megan? They'd be without their mother. Matt is finally starting to make some progress with his therapy and if I didn't do this, Corrine would have been taken away."

I wasn't hearing anything he had to say. I was too mad. "She already made a deal. She didn't need you."

"What?"

"You didn't know?" Vic shook his head and I dropped the hand that was holding the gun to my side. "Corrine made a deal with Claudette and Dutch to stay out of prison if she helped them get the dirt on you. You've been played."

Vic started walking backwards, "No. No. Corrine would never." Vic kept backing up slowly until he bumped against a piece of scrap metal in the yard. I watched as he started shaking his head. "No, not Corrine. She, oh, God. No, not Corrine."

"Yeah, Corrine. She sold you out. She played you like a fiddle." This was the moment I had been waiting on. Vic brought his hands to his chest and grabbed at his shirt. I could tell he was in pain. "Man, she served your ass up like a t-bone steak. She put you out to pasture just to get rid of you. Now IAD is going to put her in protective custody with WITSEC and you'll never see your ex wife or your kids again. How's that for justice?"

"Justice for what?"

I laughed, "For what? Pick your poison, Vic. For Terry. For Lem. For all the shit we've done over the past three years. The only reason you didn't get arrested was because you made a deal with the devil to send me up to prison to save your own sorry ass. Well, guess what." I held the gun up again, "You're the one that got burned."

"Ronnie, I, uh…I had no choice. I'm sorry, but I had to."

The anger inside of me was coming back out. "You're sorry? You're SORRY! I'm the one that had to shoot a transport officer and slug another to get away. You won't have to worry about getting shanked in the shower like me. You don't have to worry about getting one of Antwon's gophers in prison to kill you in your sleep. You're sorry? Lem's dead because of you. You killed him. You didn't put the grenade in his car, but you started al of this shit. How do you sleep at night? Huh? Our friend is dead because of you and all the shit we did." I started laughing, "You're sorry alright, but you're not apologetic."

"Ronnie, put the gun down. Let's talk this out." Vic started to plead with me. I knew what he was trying to pull and I wasn't giving in. "Smitty. We can find Smitty. We can get you some money and get you across the border. You'll be in Mexico this time tomorrow, sipping on margaritas on the beach with some hot little piece of Mexican ass on your lap."

"Screw you, Vic. Screw you. You're gonna ship me to Mexico? Just like Lem? What are you gonna do? Give me a place to hide for a day while you call your ICE girlfriend to come pick me up? Do you think I'm that damn stupid?"

Vic started shaking his head, "No. No, I don't think you're stupid. I also don't think you want to do this. Let me help you."

"Oh, you've helped me plenty. You've been helping me for the past three years. You've helped me all you're gonna help me and now, it's my turn. Make your peace, Vic. One of us isn't leaving this yard alive. You know, it's funny. As I was waiting on you to come out, I kept wondering to myself if I'd have the courage to do this. I wondered if I had the balls to stand up to you. Our fearless former leader, Vic Mackey. To get what he wants, he will stomp all over you, even if he calls you his friend. Even if you've done everything he's ever asked, you'll be shit on and shafted."

"Ronnie, I'm sorry. I am. I had to protect Corrine. She's Corrine, you know? She's the mother of my children. I had to make sure she was safe. You'd do the same thing if you were in my position."

I was seeing an even darker shade of red, "No! I would have never turned on you. We were a team. We were a family and you turned on me! Now, Lem's dead, Shane's dead and it's just you and me and this is where it ends. Goodbye, Vic." I pulled the trigger and shot Vic in the face."

Vic stumbled backwards and tripped. As he fell, he hit his head on the edge of a piece of scrap metal in the pile behind him. He fell to the ground and moaned in pain. I kicked his shoulder and rolled him on his back. Vic's left arm was across his chest. His right leg was straight and his left leg was bent at the knee. The most important thing I wanted was for him to face me one last time. I wanted him to see me. I wanted his last visions on this earth to be of me, standing over him. I shot him in the left cheek, just under his eye. I slowly walked towards him. Vic's eyes were still open and I could tell he was looking at me, "Ronnie, I…" He faded off as he gasped for air.

I stood over him, watching as the memories of the past three years on the Strike Team came flooding back. The visions in my head played like home movies. Every memory from meeting Terry to my joining the team to the Money Train heist to Monica Rawlings and up until Lem's death played on and on in my mind. The terror in Vic's eyes was something I never thought I'd see. I had a pretty good idea that the visions in my head were what he was seeing. I cocked my head to the side and watched as Vic's eyes were fixed on me.

Vic didn't try to move. He didn't try to fight. He knew I won. He knew he was about to die. He knew I wanted payback the instant he saw me. He knew his fate was sealed and didn't fight it. "Death that much better for you than being ICE's bitch? That why you didn't try to fight me?"

Vic coughed, "Ron..."

Less than five minutes after I shot him, he took his final breath. Vic's eyes remained open with his pupils dilated and fixed.

I left his body where it was. Police would be along soon enough and would find him. I knew that they would know I did it.

I reached in Vic's car and shut off the police radio and turned the car off. I left the gun inside the car and shut the door. After casting one last glance at Vic's body, I turned to leave the scrap yard and cast one last glance at the motionless form of someone I thought was my friend. "Now it's come full circle."

**A/N: I hated the ending. It left me hanging. Now this is how I envisioned the ending. Ronnie shoots and kills Vic just like Vic killed Terry, bringing the show full circle. **


End file.
